Hunger Games: Week of 12/16/13

Pages: 1-20                                         SPOILER ALERT!

Prompt: Explain the story, and what you know so far. 

     Though I didn't read a whole lot this week, I can still summarize what has happened so far. I recently finished my last book and am just starting this new one!

     Katniss Everdeen, (the main character) wakes up on the day of the reaping. The reaping is when two people, a boy and a girl, from each of the 12 districts in the community the book is set in, ages 12 to 18 are selected randomly to participate in the annual Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are when people from each district fight to death, to win a year supply of food for their families because starvation is a major problem that is going on in the community and for another reason I will bring up later. Primrose, (Katniss's sister) is still asleep, and Katniss quickly leaves the house to go hunting. Though hunting is forbidden in the community, Katniss and her best friend Gale, climb over a tall fence and into the woods to hunt for more food for their families! Both do not come from money, and are the main caretakers in their families, so it seems necessary that they sneak out  and get extra food. Sometimes, for extra money, Katniss and Gale will sell to the meat that they've hunted to the Peacekeepers in the HOB for extra money.

     Katniss gets to Gale and they discuss how it would be so great to just run away from their crazy society, but realize that they can't just leave their families! They fish, talk, and stop back at the district's black market to trade for bread and salt. They then stop by the Mayor's house to bring his daughter, Madge, strawberries. Katniss is friends with Madge at school. Madge was dressed for the reaping, and just seeing her, Gale began to feel upset about the whole idea of a Hunger Games in the first place. They talked about how at age 12, your name is only put in the drawing once, at 13, it's entered twice, and so on and so forth until you're 18. Though, you have the choice of putting your name in multiple times so that you can receive Tesserae. Tesserae is a year supply of grains and oil for one person, and considering how poor some people were, they really needed those extra portions! Katniss, at age 16, would have her name entered 20 times, and Gale, at age 18, would have his name entered 42 times. Though Prim (Katniss's sister) would not enter, because her family didn't want her any more at risk of being chosen than she already was. When they were finished talking, Katniss returned home, and began to prepare for the reaping.

    Prim and Katniss were finally ready, and they walked into town square nervous, and uneasy. In the square that day, the mayor would provide a speech about the history of the Hunger Games. The mayor talked about how droughts, storms, rising seas, and other natural problems, caused North America to basically dissolve, and the country of Panem rose up in it's place. The country was formed of a capitol and 13 districts, but the districts eventually rebelled. The capitol defeated the districts with 13 being so badly defeated, that it ceased to exist. Because of this, the capitol holds the Hunger Games; to remind the districts of their powerlessness against them.  After the Mayor gives his speech, Haymitch Abernathy (one of the two tributes from district 12 to ever win the Hunger Games, and the only one still alive) comes onto the stage. He is drunk, and hugs Effie Trinket (a person who escorts the district 12 tributes to the Hunger Games training and arena.) Soon after, Effie Trinket draws the name of the girl who will be representing district 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games, and she chooses Primrose Everdeen. That's where I left off, and although I've already read this book, I am still excited to read the rest, and jog my memory about what happens!